New details about the lead up to a fatal police involved shooting earlier this month has been released as the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team continues its investigation into the use of force displayed.
Authorities say at 10:36 p.m, on July 18th, a community peace officer who had an unrelated vehicle pulled over with its emergency lights on, observed another vehicle being driven erratically, eventually speeding away and running a red light.
Just about 30 minutes later, another community peace officer saw the vehicle in question; but when they attempted to pull it over by activating their emergency lights, it sped away.
At 11:26 p.m., a Grande Prairie RCMP officer spotted the vehicle by the detachment downtown, and followed the vehicle outside of city limits as it continued to be driven erratically. The vehicle eventually came to a stop in a rural area and the driver exited.
The officers gave verbal commands to the driver, and during the interaction, police say the affected person produced a weapon that appeared to be a firearm. Just after midnight, officers discharged their firearms, striking the unidentified person.
Despite officers rendering first aid, EMS responded and declared the affected person to be deceased at the scene. ASIRT’s mandate is to effectively, independently and objectively investigate incidents involving Alberta’s police that have resulted in serious injury or death to any person, as well as serious or sensitive allegations of police misconduct.
